Eagles Recap | Round 16 Women/Men

Image credit: Mark Filpo (@codexdesignstudio)

The East Perth Eagles produced one of their best double acts of the NBL1 West season on Saturday night at home to the Kalamunda Eastern Suns with the women's and men's teams scoring crucial victories.

The Saturday night evening action at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre got underway with the women's clash and it was a dominant display from the Eagles with Awatea Leach scoring a season-best 33 points in the 114-83 victory against the Eastern Suns.

Things got tight late in the men's contest but East Perth had been on top the entire clash and also ended up with the 101-99 victory against Kalamunda to keep their playoff hopes alive with two rounds of the regular season remaining.

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WOMEN

Awatea Leach had her best ever NBL1 performance, Madi Torresin was firing once more and the Eagles delivered a dominant 114-83 display against the Eastern Suns to confirm their 2025 finals appearance.

It was the last home game of the season for the Eagles at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre and they came into the match up with the Eastern Suns needing a win to confirm their playoff position.

The Eagles started a team on a mission with what might have been their best quarter of the season in the first term with 36 points on the back of shooting 11/15 from the field with 5/7 from downtown and 9/11 from the foul line.

Awatea Leach scored 17 of those 36 points as they opened up a 17-point lead and ended up leading 36-21 by quarter-time.

That lead for East Perth got out to 22 points in the second frame and by half-time the home team went into the break leading 63-42 in what was their highest scoring opening half of the season.

That lead for the Eagles only continued to grow with it getting out to 25 points in the third quarter and 35 in the fourth before they went on to score the 31-point victory.

East Perth scored the win on the back of a hot shooting night going at 59 per cent from the field along with 12/27 from downtown and 24/37 at the foul line. The Eastern Suns finished up shooting 36 per cent from the floor, 8/27 from three-point range and 19/29 at the foul line.

It was a breakout performance for the Eagles from Awatea Leach with the New Zealander tough nut having an offensive explosion with 33 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals with 5/6 three-point shooting and going 10/13 at the foul line.

Madi Torresin has been battling through a back complaint but was moving with much greater freedom once more and delivered 20 points, four rebounds and three steals.

Abby Cubillo only narrowly missed a second triple-double of the season with 13 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds with Sasha Goodlett delivering 18 points, nine boards and five assists on 8/11 shooting from the field.

Tessa Morrison added 11 points and six assists, Ari van Vliet eight points and three rebounds, Aleka Kabugua four points, three boards and two assists, Taylor Roberts three points, four rebounds and three assists, Jaymie Symons two points and five rebounds, and Fearne Van Beek two points and a rebound.

MEN

The Eagles produced a tremendous first half to open up a 19-point lead but then had to dig deep to hold out the fast finishing Eastern Suns for the crucial 101-99 home victory on Saturday night.

The battle over spots in the bottom part of the top eight remains a fascinating one and two of those teams involved are East Perth and Kalamunda as they locked horns on Saturday night at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre.

The Eagles came into the contest on their home floor having lost their past three matches in disappointing fashion but at 7-11 they were still within striking distance of breaking into a playoff spot should they get on a winning run.

East Perth produced a tremendous start to the contest with 31 points to 20 in the opening quarter which included going on a 12-0 scoring run and shooting 11/22 from the field compared with the 8/20 from the Suns.

It was another 23 points to 18 in the second term from the Eagles to see the home team go into the half-time break still leading 54-38 having been up by as much as 19 points in the period.

East Perth were still leading by as much as 17 points in the third quarter but then the Eastern Suns got on a roll and the dynamic duo of Marshall Nelson and Randy Bell shot them right back into the contest.

Kalamunda put up 31 points in the third quarter and even drew back level at one point before East Perth was clinging to the 70-69 advantage by three quarter-time.

With so much at stake for both teams, the stage was set for a big finish and the Eastern Suns did earn the lead early in the fourth quarter with a trio of free throws from Nelson.

East Perth were able to respond with an 11-0 scoring run with Lee Roberts and Max Rice coming up big and once again it appeared the Eagles were back on top with the 13-point lead.

The Suns wouldn’t go away, though, and suddenly in the final minute when Nelson knocked down yet another three ball right in front of the Eagles bench, it was back to a two-point ball game.

The Eagles stood tall this time around with Roberts making a tough mid-range jumper to put them out to a four-point lead.

There was still some late drama with Matthew Lang missing a pair of free throws to keep the margin just two but the Suns couldn’t get off a shot with some impressive defence to deny Nelson the chance to get a shot off saw them hold on for the crucial two-point win.

The win keeps East Perth's finals hopes alive with an 8-11 record with games now to finish away to the Perry Lakes Hawks and Joondalup Wolves, and then at home to Geraldton Buccaneers.

Max Rice came up big time in the win for the Eagles with 28 points and seven assists with 5/11 three-point shooting while Chier Maker contributed 22 points, seven rebounds and two assists, and Lee Roberts 20 points, 10 boards, two assists and two blocks.

Matthew Lang also had 10 points, seven assists, five rebounds and four steals, Jonah Antonio nine points, six boards, four steals and three assists, Sharif Watson eight points and four rebounds, and Nick Filpo four points and three assists.